Omkari Williams of MyEmpoweredWorld.com writes:
Most of us go through life with a public face, the one we put on to get through the day without unnecessarily pissing anyone off, and that is a fine thing. What isn’t fine is when we use that public face as a shield between us and the world on a regular basis.
When that public face isn’t a choice but our default way of being, we are in danger of not being seen. While that public face is fine – for the public – when we wear it all the time we are hiding what makes us who we truly are from those we care about. That public face becomes the enemy of engagement, growth and intimacy.
The day I realized that I wasn’t simply private but hiding was a really hard day for me. For the majority of my life I had convinced myself that my nearly pathological privacy had more to do with my semi-British upbringing than the truth, which was I was afraid of being seen.
I didn’t hide from everyone, I had a few close friends with whom I would share what was really going on inside me, most of the time. But the reality was that I was terrified that if people really knew me that they would find me as lacking as I found myself. There was a litany of things that I was “too”—I was too impulsive, too emotional, too sensitive, too disorganized, too, too, too.
That was the loop that played in my head nearly all the time. So I hid. I put on a mask of being thoughtful, calm, strong, organized. All of the things that I felt I was too, I turned those on their head and portrayed the opposite. I’ve come to realize that this is what we humans tend to do. We take the things we think are “wrong” with us and try to bury them under an avalanche of the opposite. The key word here is “avalanche” because, at some point, it all comes crashing down.
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About the Author
Omkari Williams writes and speaks on story and its importance in our individual and collective lives. In her coaching practice she helps her clients share their unique stories. Omkari says, “Our stories are the bridges between us and others. Sharing our stories can help heal the world.